


Dear Hearts and Gentle People

by Mattchewy



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4, Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, F/M, Guns, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattchewy/pseuds/Mattchewy
Summary: 2 months after the fall of the Institute, the Sole Survivor comes across a discovery that may change the Commonwealth forever.





	1. Dear Hearts and Gentle People

**Author's Note:**

> I have taken several differences with the ending of Fallout 4. In mine, the institute was not fully destroyed. Why would any sane person do that? They have loads of resources and technology that would help the world.  
> Also this Sole Survivor did the Minuteman ending, with the two other factions still alive.  
> The Minutemen are also now using the armor seen in the Militarized Minuteman mod; https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/29853 ; I love the aesthetic of it.  
> Other mods and references may also appear.

_War.... War never changes._

_At least that's what we once thought 200 years ago._

_But war has always changed, molded by thoughts and ideas._

_While the act of war has stayed the same, the idea of it has expanded._

_War over our way of life, over race or color, over an ideal._

_After all this time..._

_War... war has changed._

* * *

It had been several hours since the two went to find the bunker. From the data collected from the Institute, it was supposed to contain data for some of their projects stored off-site. It could contain medical supplies, data on diseases, something that they might have missed after the attack on the Institute. So off Nate and Macready went, into the woods, hoping it contained something worthwhile. 

"Hurry up Nate!" Macready said as the sky began to turn a dark shade of green, signs of rad storm coming into the area. "Radstorm comin!"

Nate, dressed in a dark green military shirt with jeans cursed. "Damn pipboy says the entrance is he-" He spotted it mid sentence, a dark steel hatch covered by the growing green grass. "Here!" 

He opened the hatch, shining his pipboy light through. He saw the ladder leading down, but it was a good enough height to just jump down. Which he did.

He motioned for Macready to jump down too, closing the hatch to the approaching radstorm.

Macready sighed. "That...was close."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "We were fine. Now let's see here." The survivor could see there was a door, similar to the ones in the institute, only it looked like it was locked by a terminal.

He cracked his fingers. "Easy." He went up to the computer, letting it go through the Rob-Co Booting sequence before jamming in a wire from the pipboy into the side of the terminal. The screen went into a group of lines, showing various passwords and numbers. After a few false passwords, Nate selected the right one.

"What kind of password is Pizza?" The door opened, to a clean room, white sterilized walls.

Macready squinted his eyes as he entered. "What the hell is pizza?"

Nate sighed. "It's... I'll explain it when we get back to Sanctuary."

This room was surprisingly not dusty, but still looked abandoned, scattered books on desks and various lab equipment thrown around. Nate grimaced. "Guess these guys knew what happened..."

The door to the next room looked a little damaged, a burn mark near the side of the door. Nate drew his Colt 45. Pistol as Macready took the safety off his hunting rifle. "Laser marks. Be wary."

Opening the door, Macready cursed as he took in the sight of the room. "Shit!"

Dead Gen 2 synths, parts scattered everywhere, laser guns still in their hands. Or what remained of them. "Well, looks like someone beat us here first." 

Nate didn't like this as the two scavenged the microfusion cells from the dead bodies. This seemed too... quiet. 

"Hey, another terminal!" Macready pointed out another terminal near the side of the room, on top of a desk. Nate grabbed a nearby chair and turned on the terminal.

It opened to a page of several entries:

**NOTE 1**

**NOTE 2**

**NOTE 3**

**CORRUPTED DATA**

Nate clicked on the first note.

**_DATA SHOWS THAT TESTING OF PROJECT ANIMALIA IS GOING WELL. SUBJECT 89P13 IS SHOWING BETTER VITAL SIGNS WHEN PAIRED WITH 90P17. DOCTOR LEONS IS SUGGESTING THAT HAVING 90P17 THERE DURING MUSCLE AMPUTATION WILL HELP WITH STRESS RELATED ISSUES BUT I DISAGREE. 90P17 WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED AT CERTAIN TIMES, AND HAVING THIS MAY TAMPER WITH DATA._ **

Nate grimaced. Muscle amputation? What the hell? He opened the next note.

_**89P13 IS STILL NOT RECOVERING WELL FROM THE DEATH OF NORMAN MELHUES. WHILE HIS DEATH WAS NOT NECESSARY, THE MERCENARY HAD WARNED HIM NOT TO INTERFERE. HE WAS A GOOD TECHNICAL WORKER, AND HE WILL BE MISSED.** _

Mercenary? Could this log be talking about Kellogg? Nate had killed him 3 months ago. This log must be more than 3 months ago for it to have happened. Nate opened the last one.

_**89P13 NEARLY FLATLINED AFTER SPINAL TRANSFER. THANKFULLY HE WAS ABLE TO BE BROUGHT BACK, BUT WHEN HE CAME TO, HE DIDN'T SCREAM LIKE BEFORE. HE JUST STARED AT ME. WITH HATRED. I'M GOING TO ASK FOR DESMOND TO REASSIGN ME TO OUTPOST 12. THE PROJECTS THERE ARE LESS LIKELY TO CAUSE AN INCIDENT.** _

Nate sighed as he closed the terminal. "What the hell were they doing?" 

He showed the notes to Macready, who reacted in disgust. "These guys are like raiders."

Nate went to the next door in the room, surrounded by the corpses of synths. It didn't open at first, before opening slower than the other doors.

Entering the next room, Nate could see the table, probably where they mutilated whatever the doctor was talking about in his terminal.

He got closer to the table, noticing the blood still stained on the table. Fresh. Something was still here.

It was at that moment that Nate heard a yelp from Macready, leaving him to turn around, gun pointed forward. What he saw was something he had not seen before in his time with the wasteland.

A raccoon, wearing white rags, pointing a 10mm pistol at Macready's head as the man cursed. The raccoon turned his head to Nate, and words came out of his mouth.  
" _Gun... down."_


	2. Orange Colored Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate tries to negotiate with the new threat as tension mounts.

**January 30th, 2288**

**2 months after the fall of the Institute.**

* * *

 

Nate stared at the raccoon as it kept the gun on Maccready. It stared at him with hatred. 

" _Gun...down."_

Even with a small moment of shock, Nate knew not to try anything. Knowing the institute, this creature might be faster than both of them. Nate had kevlar on his chest, but no helmet. And seeing the bodies outside, this raccoon must be a good shot.

Sighing, Nate tossed down his pistol. It clattered to the ground as the raccoon looked at him. 

" _Knees. Hands up."_ The raccoon motioned for him to drop down onto his knees, and Nate slowly complied, along with putting his hands over his head.

The raccoon looked back at the two men. " _You're... different. Smell like the scientists. Flesh. No smell of fake flesh."_

Nate grimaced. "We're not with the institute. In fact, we helped take it down. We came here to see if there was anything to find. We are not your enemy, Mr..."

The raccoon kept the 10mm pistol on Maccready. " _Norman...called me Rocket. I'm...Rocket."_ He growled in frustration, aiming the gun at Nate now. " _But I_ _don't trust you."_

Nate kept his hands up. "There was a terminal message. Said your friend died." Rocket looked over at Nate with a look that could kill. Well, a look that was about to kill. Nate kept speaking. "He said it was a mercenary that killed him, right?"

The raccoon kept looking at Nate and said nothing.

Nate continued. "Was he bald? Large scar on his face? Carried a revolver?"

Rocket's face looked pained. He jumped down, aiming the gun right at Nate's face " _Where?_   _WHERE IS HE?_ " 

"He's dead." Nate stated.

Rocket's anger deflated. But he kept the gun aimed at Nate. " _You could be lying."_

"Check my backpack. First thing in there." Rocket had scampered up onto Nate's back, reaching into the duffel back. Nate cursed himself mentally. Perfect time to disarm him and yet... he didn't.

Rocket reached in, pulling out a polished revolver, modified heavily. It had been taken from it's previous owner, Conrad Kellogg, after he was killed by Nate.

"That's his revolver. Took it from his damn corpse. He's dead, I've made sure of it."

The raccoon leapt off his back, staring at the revolver in his paw. His face was a display of emotion, anger and pain. " _Gone?"_

Nate nodded. Rocket had dropped the 10mm, leaving him to stare at the revolver in a sense of mourning for the one killed by it.

The raccoon looked at the two with less anger than before. " _You're not one of them. But I won't trust you fully. I...I just need help."_

* * *

 

Once Nate had entered the other room, it could be seen clearly why the raccoon needed their help now. 

Built similarly like the raccoon, the coyote was laid out on the table, comatose.

Maccready looked at the mammal with reluctance. "What happened to him?"

Rocket had hopped up to the table, sitting down next to the coyote. " _We... 2 months ago all the scientists left. We were left here. We had supplies but... they got low."_

_"He went out to find water but... storm hit. He wasn't close enough to the bunker, got hit by radiation but he seemed fine at first when he got back. Then... he stayed like this 2 days ago."_

Nate overlooked the body. Radiation was a tricky thing with some species. Some thrived in it, others were decimated by even a small amount of radiation. 

"No rad-away?"

The raccoon grimaced. " _I've looked all over the place. Nothing. I don't want to leave in case... something happens."_

Nate put down his bag, and grabbed a Rad-away. Looking over the small size of the 4 ft body, he decided to not use all of the bag. Had to make sure the coyote would have the right dosage. The body reacted badly if one took too much in a short time.

Inserting the tube into the arm, the Rad-away went inside the body, flushing away the radiation. 

The raccoon knelt by the coyote's body. " _Is it working?"_

Nate sighed. "Time will tell. Mac, check and see if the radstorm is still going on."

Maccready ran out of the room as Nate leaned on a nearby operating table.

He looked over at Rocket. "Does he have a name?"

Rocket smiled. " _Norman said he looked like ashes. His fur. So he liked the name Ash. But only Norman called him that. They always called us subjects. They..."_ He looked down, the memory bringing back sadness in his heart. 

Nate looked at the small raccoon. What the institute had done was monstrous. The fact that his son had green-lighted this, gave these animals sentience then mutilated them... He wished he could have stopped this pain. But if the doctor had mentioned being transferred to another bunker...

There must be more experiments just like this. 

He grimaced. New plan, find these bunkers, and hopefully free whatever other subjects they have. But then what? 

Ghouls were hated by a majority of the Commonwealth. What would the existence of talking animals bring? More hate and vitriol, even killings to these innocent creatures? 

Nate had to figure that out every step of the way.

Maccready came back from outside, grinning. "The storm is gone!"

Nate smirked. "Great. Let's get back to Sanctuary."

_"Wait."_

Nate turned to see the raccoon looking up at them. 

_"Let us come with you. To Sanctuary."_

Maccready looked at him with a look that said, 'Don't do this please'.

Nate sighed, pulling out his pipboy. "Alright. See this place on the map? That's Sanctuary. If you can, you and your friend can meet us there. Otherwise, we'll come back in a day or two. Got it?"

Rocket looked at the two men.  _"T-thank you."_ He rushed back into the operation room.

Maccready sighed. "Welp, check that off my bucket list."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've taken some liberties with how Rad-away is done with this story. Seeing as how it's like a blood bag, I could see it being used in a similar way.


End file.
